The teens of Cove Haven Resort

Pennsylvania's Cove Haven Resort may not seem like a hot bed for fashion. "It's actually a resort for couples!" laughs Dazed photographer Fumi Nagasaka, who staged her street cast shoot amongst the tennis courts and heart-shaped pools moodily reminiscent of Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. "You have to go once in your lifetime." Nagasaka plucked a cast of teens found on the pavements and through Instagram for her recreational take on the American suburbs. We asked her to tell us the story behind her obsession with casting new faces.

What was the concept behind the collections story?

Fumi Nagasaka: The concept of my story was about American kids hanging out in American suburbs.

Does the American dream still exist?

Fumi Nagasaka: Yes. That's why I am still here.

You have such an incredible eye for street casting – has it always been a fascination of yours?

Fumi Nagasaka: I used to hang out with punks and kids in the NY underground scene in early 2000s. I was one of them (I used to have half-shaved blonde, half-long black hair!) That's how I started to discover and meet interesting people. Also I was inspired by Hedi Slimane's street casting in Berlin when he was doing Dior Homme. That made me realise that's what I love about in fashion. My first ever street cast editorial shoot was with Robbie Spencer in 2007. We shot East Village punks for Dazed. The shoot was crazy but amazing.

What draws you to your street cast subjects? 

Fumi Nagasaka: I like kids who look different from others and have their own style. It's very interesting that lots of kids I've scouted are very intelligent and sweet and very special.

Can you tell us some stories behind the specific people you shot for this issue?

Fumi Nagasaka: In the beginning, I had lots of cool kids to shoot – then many of them cancelled very last minute! It was very hard to organise, especially as we had to drive to Pennsylvania and shoot all day there. Then when I was looking for more kids a few days before the shoot day I saw this skater boy in Williamsburg one night and I asked him if he would be interested in being my shoot. He told me that he might be out of town but he gave me his Instagram name. When I went home I looked at his Instagram to try to get more pictures of him, then I saw an amazing looking girl in his picture. That was Sahara, who was a star in the story. I wrote to her on Instagram and asked her to contact me asap, then she wrote me back. Katie and I were really happy that we shot her.

Hair Wesley O'Meara at Brydges Mackinney using AG Hair; make-up Souhi at Jed Root using Chanel; models (in order of appearance) Kimberly Schwanof, Mary-Margaret Henry, Nick Shaw at IMG, Sahara Leung, Luis Stewart, Maggie Fadrowska; photographic assistants Satoshi Motoda, Melvin Duran; styling assistants Isabelle Sayer, Alexandra Bickerdike; hair assistants Rhyannon Joy; make-up assistant Ayana Awata; location Cove Haven Resort; production Alex Herboche; post-production Color One Inc; casting Fumi Nagasaka